The Spanish Government has opened its closest ports as a safe haven to the NGO vessel, Open Arms, which has been refused entry to Italy with over 100 migrants on board.
The migrants have been on the Open Arms for two and a half weeks and the charity which runs the vessel, Proactiva Open Arms, says the situation on board is becoming increasingly difficult.
It is the latest of many vessels to be refused entry by the Italian authorities.
Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, made the first offer to the NGO vessel on Sunday, ordering the port of Algeciras to be made available for the Open Arms.
But the charity said that the port – 1,800 kilometres, or some five days’ sail away – was too far away.
The situation aboard was “unmanageable” due to “frequent anxiety and panic attacks’’ and “cases of rioting,’’ according to the ship’s captain.
The closest Spanish ports – on the Balearic Islands of Menorca and Mallorca – are some 1,000 kilometres from where the Open Arms is currently anchored, off the coast of Lampedusa.
Proactiva Open Arms said that Italy and Spain should provide the “necessary supplies” if the Open Arms was going to have to stay at sea for longer.
Earlier this week, six EU countries – France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and Spain – said they were willing to take in some Open Arms migrants if Italy allowed their disembarkation.
On Saturday, Italy accepted 27 people from the ship, mostly minors, but refused to take in the rest.
